DailyHerald.com Blogs - Big Picture . Local Focushttp://blogs.dailyherald.com
enHere's the Van Gundy anti-Bulls management ranthttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7978
<p>During the ESPN broadcast of Friday's Bulls-Mavericks game in Dallas, analyst Jeff Van Gundy blasted Bulls management and stood up for coach Tom Thibodeau.</p>
<p>Van Gundy is entitled to his opinion, but he obviously has a bias. Thibodeau was an assistant coach for Van Gundy in both New York and Houston. The two remain close friends.</p>
<p>Van Gundy was referring to a claim that Thibodeau had lost his team and was on the "hot seat," which usually means he's in danger of being fired. As far as I know, the only media member to suggest the hot seat theory in writing was Chris Sheridan of Sheridanhoops.com, a national NBA site. Van Gundy seems to believe Bulls management promoted this idea behind the scenes, but let's let JVG speak for himself.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7978">read more</a></p>Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:43:11 -0600mikemcgraw7978 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comSpain hits a snag on road to USA showdownhttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7976
<p>That USA-Spain gold medal game everyone assumed would cap off the FIBA World Cup? Well, it won't happen.</p>
<p>Spain was upset by France 65-52 in Wednesday's quarterfinal round. With the host team eliminated from medal contention, the final four is set: USA vs. Lithuania on Thursday and France vs. Serbia on Friday.</p>
<p>Defense carried France to the surprising victory, outscoring Spain 23-9 in the fourth quarter. Boris Diaw led France with 15 points, followed by guard Thomas Heurtel with 13. France does not have Tony Parker or Joakim Noah at this tournament, but still has a fair amount of NBA talent with Portland's Nicholas Batum, Denver guard Evan Fournier, Utah center Rudy Gobert and ex-NBA forward Mickael Gelabale.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7976">read more</a></p>Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:39:10 -0500mikemcgraw7976 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comReport: Hawks minority owner wanted Ferry fired for Deng commenthttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7975
<p>The Atlanta Hawks storyline was already strange, but additional information has surfaced about the comments about ex-Bull Luol Deng reportedly made by Hawks GM Danny Ferry.</p>
<p>The Atlanta Journal Constitution and WSB-TV in Atlanta are reporting a letter was sent by Hawks minority owner Michael Gearon asking for the resignation or termination of Ferry.</p>
<p>According to the reports, Ferry spoke to members of the Hawks ownership group on a conference call about free agency. Deng, who eventually signed with Miami, was a potential target.</p>
<p>Speaking about Deng, Ferry reportedly said the former Bulls forward is "a guy who would have a nice store out front, but sell you counterfeit stuff out of the back."</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7975">read more</a></p>Mon, 08 Sep 2014 23:41:58 -0500mikemcgraw7975 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comAtlanta Hawks scandal reportedly grew from offensive Deng scouting reporthttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7974
<p>The strange NBA story of the weekend had its roots in a poorly-worded scouting report on free-agent target Luol Deng, according to espn.com.</p>
<p>Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson self-reported a racially-insensitive e-mail he wrote a few years ago, which was made public on Sunday. The subject of the e-mail was his thoughts on how to attract more affluent customers to Hawks games, which is essentially what the NBA is all about these days with its outrageous ticket and concession prices.</p>
<p>Deadspin ran the complete e-mail if you're interested: </p>
<p><a href="http://deadspin.com/heres-the-email-that-forced-hawks-owner-barry-levenson-1631640411" title="http://deadspin.com/heres-the-email-that-forced-hawks-owner-barry-levenson-1631640411">http://deadspin.com/heres-the-email-that-forced-hawks-owner-barry-levens...</a></p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7974">read more</a></p>Mon, 08 Sep 2014 09:18:35 -0500mikemcgraw7974 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comFor Team USA, FIBA World Cup is about waiting for Spainhttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7973
<p>Feel the basketball excitement in the air? No?</p>
<p>That's understandable, since FIBA, the governing body of international basketball, decided to wait until the opening of American football season to begin the renamed World Cup of Basketball.</p>
<p>The event begins tomorrow (Saturday), with Team USA battling Finland in Bilbao (2:30 p.m., ESPN). That's the first of five games in six days for the U.S. Here's the full slate:</p>
<p>Saturday vs. Finland, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)<br />
Sunday vs. Turkey, 2:30 (ESPN)<br />
Tuesday vs. New Zealand, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN)<br />
Wednesday vs. Dominican Republic, 2:30 (ESPN)<br />
Thursday vs. Ukraine, 11:30 (ESPN)</p>
<p>Round of 16: Sept. 6-7<br />
Quarterfinals: Sept. 9-10<br />
Semifinals: Sept. 11-12<br />
Gold Medal game: Sept. 14</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7973">read more</a></p>Fri, 29 Aug 2014 10:22:42 -0500mikemcgraw7973 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comThe thinking on Hendricks' thinking: It's all goodhttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7972
<p>We have a few leftover items from last night's Kyle Hendricks show and some notes leading into tonight's game against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. Hendricks, with the help of two relievers, beat the Brewers 3-0. By working 7.1 innings and giving up 6 hits and no runs, Hendricks turned in his fifth straight quality start. Hendricks has put together 4 starts of at least 7 innings and 2 or fewer earned runs within his first 6 career starts. He became the first Cub to do that since Frank Castillo in 1991. </p>
<p>As you know, Hendricks is a Dartmouth graduate and a bright kid. Sometimes you'll hear the term “over-thinking” it in baseball (and in life). Cubs manager Rick Renteria said he doesn't worry about that with Hendricks. </p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7972">read more</a></p>Wed, 13 Aug 2014 15:16:17 -0500Bruce7972 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comPreseason alert: Bulls vs. Cavs in Buckeye countryhttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7971
<p>The Bulls have not yet released their preseason schedule. But Cleveland did on Friday and it features a game against the Bulls on Monday, Oct. 20 in Columbus, Ohio at the Schottenstein Center.</p>
<p>This is relatively late in preseason, so fans may get a reasonably good look at the expected Cavs trio of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving playing together.</p>
<p>The Cavaliers are playing LeBron's old team, the Miami Heat, on Oct. 11 in Rio de Janeiro.</p>
<p>The Bulls will also get a chance to check on No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins with Minnesota. The Bulls will face the Timberwolves on Oct. 24 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7971">read more</a></p>Fri, 08 Aug 2014 14:19:46 -0500mikemcgraw7971 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comGood night and good morning from Wrigleyhttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7970
<p>OK, it's 2:05 a.m. and I'm typing at Wrigley Field. We'll get up later and flesh it all out, but the Cubs just beat the Rockies 4-3 in 16 innings for the longest game in Cubs history in terms of time. The game took 6 hours and 27 minutes to play. The winning run scored when Starlin Castro drove in John Baker on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. </p>
<p>The winning pitcher was Baker, a backup catcher who worked the top of the 16th inning because the bullpen was taxed to begin with. Baker joked that he had to shake off fellow catcher Welington Castillo because they weren't on the same page.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7970">read more</a></p>Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:18:55 -0500Bruce7970 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comRose excels on first day of Team USA camp (with video)http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7969
<p>Derrick Rose took to the court in Las Vegas on Monday as Team USA opened training camp in preparation for the FIBA World Cup next month.</p>
<p>The NBA sent out a couple of video clips from practice. One featured Rose dunking with two hands on an inbounds play and the other saw the Bulls guard scoring on a drive to the basket while getting fouled.</p>
<p>"The strength in his leg is great. His explosion is back. That’s all there,” said Bulls coach Tim Thibodeau, an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski on the Team USA coaching staff.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7969">read more</a></p>Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:19:17 -0500mikemcgraw7969 at http://blogs.dailyherald.comCubs trade Barney to Dodgershttp://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7968
<p>The Cubs today managed to get something for second baseman Darwin Barney, whom they designated for assignment on July 22. They traded Barney and a cash consideration to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later. Barney, who won the Gold Glove in 2012, had a hitting line of .230/.265/.328 with the Cubs. </p>
<p>The emergence of Arismendy Alcantara and the activation of Emilio Bonifacio off the disabled list led to Barney being squeezed out, as did Barney's poor offense. </p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7968">read more</a></p>Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:08:54 -0500Bruce7968 at http://blogs.dailyherald.com